Army Ants (Siafu) Tarani 1971

The rains tended to bring out the army ants. They mostly stuck to their little paths in the dirt but if one inadvertently stepped on them they would rapidly fan out looking for the fresh meat. Cagged animals were always at risk. The ants were large enough to really hurt when they bit you and usually would go up your legs until they found softer "meat"! Our rabbits in the hutches could be protected by sitting the hutch legs in old tin cans and filling the can with used oil or kerosene. One good that came from the ants is that they would clean all the vermin out of a hut. If you slept with a mosquito net tucked in around your mattress you were protected. The risk was not too worrisome. Snakes were more of a concern. Puff Adder, Spitting Cobra and the Mambas were most feared. If bitten in the bush, probably the most prudent activity would be to pick your burial spot. Again, one was just careful to keep watch. Most huts were kept in dirt clearings to be able to observe such dangers and also to keep grass fires from reaching the thatch roof. Grass would burn off at the end of the dry season and the smell of smoke was ubiquitious from this and from cooking fires. Our cooking fire was at the right where the three large stones are placed. You can observe that we are catching drinking water off the goathouse roof and into half a metal drum. Mzee Brito thatched the beautiful elevated rabbit hutch in perfect Zanaki style.